Surfactants are added to detergents because they have a series of physical and chemical functions such as wetting or anti-sticking, emulsification, foaming or defoaming, solubilization, dispersion, washing, antisepsis, and antistatic and corresponding practical applications.

1. Classification of surfactants

Surfactants are called " industrial MSG ". They have fixed hydrophilic and lipophilic groups, which can be directionally arranged on the surface of the solution and significantly reduce the surface tension substance. Surfactants are added to detergents because they have a series of physical and chemical functions such as wetting or anti-sticking, emulsification, foaming or defoaming, solubilization, dispersion, washing, antisepsis, and antistatic and corresponding practical applications. Surfactants can generally be divided into four categories: nonionic surfactants, zwitterionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, and anionic surfactants:

Source: Compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

2. China's surfactant industry Production status analysis

In 2020, the surfactant output of enterprises above designated size nationwide was 3.696 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.46%. The COVID-19 epidemic has a positive side for surfactant production and the market as a whole, especially in the second half of 2020, the domestic surface The output of major active agent companies achieved a year-on-year growth of 18.5%.

Source: China Laundry Association Surfactant Professional Committee, compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

Related reports: "2021-2026 China Surfactant Market Research and Industry Investment Potential Forecast Report" released by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

3. Analysis of the current situation of China's surfactant segment product market

Judging from my country's anionic surfactant production, my country's anionic surfactant production increased year by year from 2015 to 2020. As of 2020, my country's anionic surfactant production was 1.517 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 20.66%. In terms of sales, according to statistics, as of 2020, my country's anionic surfactant sales were 1.456 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 18.25%.

Source of data: Surfactant Professional Committee of China Laundry Association, compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

Source of data: Surfactant Professional Committee of China Laundry Association, compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute htm In terms of l2

segmented products, the production and sales of the AES series in 2020 were 646,000 tons and 633,000 tons respectively, a year-on-year increase of 22.58% and 19.66% respectively compared with 2019; the production and sales of the LAS series were 688,000 tons and 645,000 tons respectively, a year-on-year increase of 22.58% and 19.66% respectively compared with 2019. Year-on-year growth was 17.00% and 15.55% respectively. In terms of market demand, anion is still dominated by LAS and AES. Since the import of natural oil raw materials was blocked during the epidemic, the alkyl benzene sulfonic acid market performed relatively positively in 2020, with production and sales exceeding AES. Another factor is that there are foreign reports of LAS It has a certain inhibitory effect on the new coronavirus, causing LAB and LAS to experience an inversion in the market in 2020, with a considerable amount of LAB being imported.

Note: 100% active substance conversion statistics, Note: * covers ammonium salt ; ** covers ammonium salt.

Source: China Laundry Association Surfactant Professional Committee, compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

From the perspective of my country's nonionic surfactant production, my country's nonionic surfactant production showed a downward trend from 2018 to 2020. According to statistics, in 2020 In 2018, my country's nonionic surfactant output was 1.862 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.97%.

Source: China Cleaning Association Surfactant Professional Committee, compiled by Huajing Industrial Research Institute

Due to the wide variety of nonionic surfactant products, the production and sales of fatty alcohol ethers of enterprises above designated size in my country in 2020 were 648,000 tons and 641,000 tons respectively. tons, of which The production and sales volume of low EO polymerization number fatty alcohol ether AEO2+3 were 462,000 tons and 455,000 tons respectively (data are incomplete statistics), and the production and sales volume of medium EO polymerization number fatty alcohol ether AEO7+9 were 75,000 tons (data are both For incomplete statistics), the production and sales of other AEO series products (AEOs except 2, 3, 7, and 9) were 111,000 tons and 111,000 tons respectively. The production and sales volume of other nonionic surfactants including alkyl phenol ethers, polyol esters, alkanolamides, APG, etc. were 229,000 tons and 224,000 tons respectively.

Source: Compiled by Surfactant Professional Committee of China Cleaning Association and Huajing Industrial Research Institute

IV. Analysis of the competitive landscape of China’s surfactant industry

The current production and sales of anionic surfactants show great scale, intensification and monopoly market characteristics. The market competition among major enterprises is extremely fierce. In 2020, the top five domestic anionic enterprises produced a cumulative output of 1.16 million tons, accounting for 2020. It accounted for 76.5% of the total annual output and accumulated sales volume of 1.14 million tons, accounting for 78.3% of the annual sales volume.

Source: China Detergent Association Surfactant Professional Committee, Huajing Industrial Research Institute compiled

Alkyl glycoside , as the main non-ionic variety, has developed rapidly in recent years, especially during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the project expanded production Overcapacity is gradually becoming apparent, but the industry lacks awareness of high-quality and special alkyl glycosides, especially some high-performance isomeric alkyl glycosides. As one of the mainstream products of new green surfactants in recent years, its performance and market have attracted great attention from the downstream industry. In particular, its functions such as foaming, wetting, emulsification, and penetration are adjustable due to structural differences. It has become a household cleaning, personal Cost-effective products for care products and industrial additives. In 2020, the largest domestic alkyl glycoside company is BASF (Shanghai), with a scale of 40,000 tons, output and sales of 20,500 tons and 19,580 tons respectively.

Source: Compilation of public information

5. Application of surfactants in emerging fields

As an indispensable additive in industrial production, with the continuous development of science and technology, surfactants are used in new materials, new energy, modern agriculture, Emerging high-tech industries such as environmental protection, electronic information, and biomedicine have seen application expansion. Surfactants have become new functionally loaded materials that promote the development of various important industries.

Source of information: Compilation of public information

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